2007-04-11 22:18:13 - Organized crime, hackers, and other criminals take advantage of our overconfidence in antivirus and security software in order to rob usoften without our knowledge.

Almost everyone who owns a computer knows the importance of having an antivirus program. And those of us who own one, assume we are protected. The sad truth is that we couldn't be more wrong. There is a silent epidemic that for years now has been spreading throughout the computer world and threatening the security of every personal, business and

corporate computer system - even those with an antivirus program. The threat? Organized crime.

It used to be that creating the latest and greatest viral threat and unleashing it on the world was the fast track to high tech fame and notoriety. Then there were those who got their kicks out of seeing just how much damage they could do through worms and Trojans. And then along came spyware. Sometimes malicious, but mostly an intrusive nuisance used by unscrupulous internet profiteers.

But times have changeddramatically.

Organized crime, recognizing the opportunity for massive profits, has now entered the picture in a big way. One of the hallmarks of organized crime has been anonymity and secrecy. This makes the Internet an almost perfect vehicle for a new era in crime because many criminals realize that the majority of the world is virtually unprotected in some way that they can exploit and make money.

How are they doing it? 'By hiring 'professional- hackers who are experts at taking over and gaining control your system without you ever knowing it.,- says Ryan Sherstobitoff, Internet security expert working for Panda Software (www.pandasoftware.com). 'Basically, criminals are taking advantage of our collective overconfidence in our antivirus and security software. They know we think we're protected, and they're taking advantage of that to break into computer systems.-

According to Sherstobitoff, the level of criminal sophistication has risen to the point where age-old solutions are no longer working, and the pervasiveness of the problem could easily be described as a 'silent epidemic- which in one way or another now secretly affects a growing majority of computers throughout the world.

The intrusive cyber tools used by organized crime are smart - very smart. Programmers involved in cyber crime are apparently taking advantage of the fact that most security software programs are not unified when it comes to protecting the systems they are designed to protect.

For example, many security suites come with a firewall, antivirus, and anti-spyware components. But these separate parts are not usually coordinated with one another at a very sophisticated levelin many cases, not at all. Because of this lack of coordination, the antivirus software can be 'tricked-. If any one of the security segments can be fooled into letting the destructive code (like a virus, Trojan, spyware, etc.) into letting it pass, the entire system gets compromised.

In other words, once the Internet intruder gets into a comp9uter system, the antivirus and security softwareno matter how expensive, how popular, or how highly ratedat that point basically becomes worthless.

And this principle of exploiting the weakness in uncoordinated defenses applies to ALL systems, be they personal, small business, or corporate.

If our security software isn't working, the big question becomes what can we do about it?

Sherstobitoff recommends getting a scan of your computer system as a first step. Sites like www.infectedornot.com can let you know whether or not you are infected. This site in particular is known for being able to 'detect the undetectable-.

But getting a scan is only the first step. The next is finding antivirus software that is going to do the job.

'Combating the threat of organized crime on the Internet isn't going to be easy,- states Sherstobitoff. 'Most of these cyber criminals operate in countries outside the United States where there is either very little law enforcement or no law enforcement at all against their activities. They are taking advantage of this by flooding the Internet with malicious software at a rate never before seen in history.-

Estimates vary, but according to some experts, almost 100,000 attacks were unleashed upon the Internet world in the past 12 months alone.

'Few companies have the manpower necessary to keep up with the sheer volume of the attacks,- says Sherstobitoff. 'That's one reason the old solutions aren't working anymore. To be effective, today's antivirus solutions have got to be proactive. Waiting for attacks to happen before coming up with solutions is courting disaster.-

Internet security experts state that several factors must be present in order to fight against modern cyber-criminals. The antivirus software would have to 1) be proactive and highly effective at blocking new and unknown viruses and spyware; 2) not be reliant on signature updates; 3) not give false positives (the 'cry wolf syndrome-); and 4) operate with a sophisticated intelligence that coordinates all aspects of the security system into a unified whole.

'We use a multi-layered approach which includes an artificial intelligence-based security system,- says Sherstobitoff. 'Our software is proactive and uses that intelligence to stay ahead of the bad guys.-

The tough thing for the consumer, of course, is to determine which companies are effective and which are not. 'If you get a scan and you find out that you are infected, I guess you could pretty much come to the conclusion that what you are currently using isn't working,- observes Sherstobitoff. 'Once you find that out, you've got to do some digging and compare. It might not be any fun, but the consequences of not really being protected can be catastrophic.-

Recent headlines about high profile computer break-ins would seem to attest to the point that Sherstobitoff and other security experts are trying to warn us about. . .

There is no question that it is difficult for many of us to accept that we may not be protected while we are connected to the Internet. In fact, many experts like Sherstobitoff predict that there are going to have to be a lot more high profile break in and thefts for the general public to believe that there is a problem. Certainly most of the antivirus and security software companies aren't talking about it. And many corporations aren't anxious to let it be known that they've been broken into and that confidential information about their customers like credit card numbers and bank account informationmay have been stolen from their computer networks.

But the unfortunate truth is that no matter how 'secure and quiet- things may seem on the surface, we are all under assault in a way never before seen. This makes the choice of the correct antivirus/security program is now more crucial than ever. Remember, the bad guys only have to be right once, so choose wisely.

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For more information about Internet security issues contact Ryan Sherstobitoff at ryans@pandasecurity.com